Chapter 17 #2
“So, what are you gonna do?” she questioned.
“I might have to quit because I won’t keep allowing this nigga to undermine me and put my credibility at stake. I’m definitely not hurting for a case.”
“Alright then. Let him know that he needs new council. Your reputation isn’t up for sale.”
I nodded. “I may come to see you tonight. I miss you.”
“Girl, you don’t miss me. As long as Taurus is around, I don’t hear from you, and also, I have a date tonight.” I could hear the smile in her voice.
“A date with who, Mom? Who is taking up all of your time?” I knew I was being nosy, but when it came to my mother, I was all in her business.
“If you must know, prosecutor Da—”
“Dan Golden? Mama, I just dusted him last week on a reckless endangerment charge. He’s a stickler, and he tried to give my client who was a first offender the max.
” I laughed. My attention left the conversation the moment I looked up in my doorway and Sabastian was standing there like we had a meeting today or something.
“Mom, let me call you back. Something just came up.” I hung up before she could respond.
“Well, hello to you too, Lane,” he greeted me as he stepped further into my office.
I laughed under my breath and pursed my lips. I didn’t like for people to pop up on me unannounced. It irritated me, especially when it was a person that I didn’t want to talk to or see.
“I’m fine, Sabastian, and you?” he answered his own question and addressed himself.
“Cut the bullshit, Sabastian. Why are you here, and what do you want?”
He chuckled. “I want you to stop acting like you see a future with that thug and look past my shortcomings, as I have no problem looking past yours.”
I laughed. “And why the fuck would I do that? I’m not saying I was perfect, but I did walk in on you and my brother. Even if Taurus and I weren’t a thing, I would still never look your way. Sabastian, what you and I had was fictitious.”
He narrowed his eyes like he didn’t understand what I was saying. “What do you mean?”
“We were never gonna sett a date, and we both know that. You only wanted to be with me because how it looked and that trust fund my brother set up a meeting with me about.” The moment the words trust fund left my lips, he threw his head back in confusion.
It was obvious I was supposed to know nothing about it.
“You met with Joseph?” he questioned.
“Unfortunately, and I’m gonna tell you like I made clear to him… I am not marrying you. So please leave me alone and go on about your life.”
“What about your career? You can’t believe you’ll get anywhere with a criminal in your corner.”
I laughed. “What about it? Just leave, Sabastian.”
He stood there staring at me for a few moments before nodding his head and walking out of my office.
It bothered him that him calling Taurus a criminal didn’t move me.
I could tell it also messed with him that I didn’t give him the back-and-forth that he probably came here for.
I dismissed him once again, and there was nothing he could do but go on about his business.
Before I could pick up the phone and call my mother back, my cell phone started ringing. I didn’t recognize the number, but I still answered it.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hello, Lane. It’s your father. I’m in the hospital. I’m at Gottlieb. Please come soon before your mother lets these people kill me with her evil ass.”
That call with my father put my emotions in a frenzy.
I knew he and I hadn’t been on the best of terms, but I did love him.
I rushed to the hospital, worried out of my mind.
When I finally reached the outside of his room, I spotted him laid up looking like all the color had drained from his face.
I could see from afar that he was pissed.
I just didn’t know why until I got closer to the doorway and heard the next words from his mouth.
I bit my lip, attempting to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape my throat.
“You want these people to kill me, don’t you? You prayed for me to have a heart attack just so we wouldn’t have to—”
By now, I wanted to know who he was talking to. I couldn’t see who it was, because whoever it was had to be sitting in the corner of the room shielded by the curtain.
“Go to hell. I would love to see you dead, but I wouldn’t waste my prayer on it. I just thought karma would get you itself. You rotten bastard.” My mother’s voice filled the room.
This was the first time I had heard them bicker, and as funny as it was, it was also so damn sad.
At this point, it was obvious that their dysfunctional asses still loved one another.
Finally, I made myself continue into the room.
As soon as I entered, I spotted my mother sitting in the chair in the corner of the room with a deep scowl on her face.
“Good thing you’re here. Get her the hell out of here.” He pointed from my mother to the door.
“The only way I’m leaving is if your old ass physically removes me or you do us all a favor and die.” My mother threw her head side to said in a combative way.
“You ain’t a spring chicken yourself.” He had to have the last word.
“Alright, y’all! Enough!” I broke it up and looked toward my father. “What happened?”
He looked at me, then he looked away. “I—”
“The prostitutes. He has an addiction to fast sex, and that almost took his damn life in the back of an alley.” My mother finished his sentence for him. She seemed more pissed than she should’ve been, considering they were in the middle of a divorce.
He started coughing. “You’re just spilling my fucking business.
If I wanted my daughter to know that I like prostitutes, then I would’ve told her my-damn-self!
” Long gone was the polished side of my father.
Right now, I was looking at a complete stranger.
I had never heard my father curse so much in my life.
“Since you wanna tell my daughter about my deeds, tell her about that prosecutor; tell her what you do in the back seat of those Town Cars,” my father said in a matter-of-factly tone.
I could see hate in his stare, or maybe it was just anger.
“You’re just mad I won’t do it to you with your half-dead, nasty-nut ass!” She pointed in his direction.
At this point, I was completely disgusted, and I needed to take a seat. My parents were as dysfunctional as they came, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it until now. I tuned them out as they continued to bicker back and forth.
“Since we’re telling her everything, why don’t you tell her that Joseph ain’t my damn son!”
Somehow, my brain caught that part if the conversation, and immediately I snapped my head in my mother’s direction for an explanation.
“That’s a damn lie, and you know it. I am tired of you bringing that shit up. Why don’t you tell our daughter that you burned me?”
“Just stop. Both of you just stop it. This is sad. You both need some type of counseling because obviously you have problems with the another. Please seek help and don’t call me until you do.
” With that, I walked out of the hospital room and left both of them to bicker away.
I definitely couldn’t stay there, because the little amount of time I was there had given me the biggest headache.
Usually, my mother and father were prim and polished, but today, I saw another side that had me looking upside both of their heads.
I just needed to go home and close my eyes.
Maybe I’d feel like dealing with them tomorrow. Hopefully.
When I finally got to Taurus’s place, he was standing in the doorway shirtless with a bandage on his chest, waiting on me. I walked right into his awaiting arms.
“How was your pops?” he asked once we stepped into the house.
I shook my head. “He’s alive if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I mean, that’s a good thing, right?” he quizzed. I could tell my response had confused him.
I slipped out of my heels near the door before I turned around and looked at him. “Considering the fact that my mother said my father burned her and then my father said my mother is giving head in the back of Town Cars, I don’t know if saying he’s good is the right answer. So I’ll say he’s alive.”
“Wait, baby. Yo’ daddy gave yo’ mama the clap?” He was trying to not laugh.
I started to unbutton my button-up. “Yep.”
“I see why she’s divorcing his ass. If a nigga gave my mama the clap, he’d be dead before she can disclose the diagnosis. Did he say where he got that shit from?”
“She said he’s addicted to prostitutes.”
“She should’ve knocked his ass off. Yo’ moms is too old for some shit like that.” He shook his head.
“I just left. I honestly didn’t have anything to say after that.” Then I looked up at him. “How was your day?”
He walked over to me and pulled me into him by my waist with a smirk. “It was straight. I missed yo’ ass today.”
“Did you now?” I licked my lips and looked up at him.
“Hell yeah. I’m trying to see if we can alleviate some of my tension.
” His hands found the hidden zipper on the side of my skirt.
Within seconds, he’d unzipped my skirt. With nothing holding it up anymore, it immediately fell to the floor.
I dropped my button-up to the floor as well and stood before him in just my knee-highs and undergarments.
“We can definitely do that.” I back away from until I was on the table behind his door. It was where he emptied his pockets most nights.
He bit his bottom lip, holstering me up against the table and the wall. He had that look like we were about to be all night, and that was what I needed. I missed all of him.
My legs were wide open as he stood between them, allowing one of his hands to explore my thick, creamy folds below while his lips devoured mine. This shit was so dirty and erotic that he had my body on fire with anticipation. I was sure I had a fever the way he had me feinding for him.